Delmas had surgery performed on his left knee by Dr. James Andrews, one of the world's top sports surgeons, yesterday to assist in his recovery from knee soreness that developed early in training camp.

The Detroit Lions have not said when they expect Delmas to return, however, the surgery by a top medical professional indicates he has sustained a major setback.

Delmas, 25, missed the majority of training camp practices due to problems with his left knee. Lions coach Jim Schwartz originally said Delmas was being held out as a precautionary measure, and maintained he was not overly concerned about the injury.

"The one guy that has been down a little bit longer than expected has been Delmas, but we're not going to put him out there if he's still sore," Schwartz previously said. "Delmas has played a lot of football for us and does well. It gives other guys some opportunity to step in and get more reps.

"We're not at the point now that we can't go out and accomplish anything. We still got a lot of work to do. We got a lot of young players back there that need every single rep we can give them."

Last season, Delmas missed five games after reportedly having surgery on his right knee. He played in Detroit's playoff game against New Orleans, but was not at 100 percent.

Delmas, a second-round pick by Detroit in 2009, has 163 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions in his career. He has missed seven games over the past three years.

If the season began today, Lions safety Erik Coleman would be the team's starting free safety.

Lions showing a bit of a 3-man DL look w/ Fairley, Suh, Williams and Ronnell coming from stand-up position. Batted down MS pass on 1st play

Damn, would this be fun to see on the field! Talk about intimidation for the QB!

_________________Same Old Lions, just a different year....

August 9th, 2012, 1:21 am

Detroit_LIons

All State

Joined: January 17th, 2006, 10:53 amPosts: 345Location: Detroit

Re: Training Camp 2012

It's expected to have some dings in camp .. I'm not worried about K.Smith , as long as we have a nice stable behind him we're golden, and can keep him healthy .. But Delmas with that Left knee surgery is scary . Especially after last season and the knee problems , he is looking fragile and frail man ..

August 9th, 2012, 2:52 am

liontrax

3rd Round Selection

Joined: March 21st, 2005, 2:11 pmPosts: 1112Location: Wolverine, Mi.

Re: Training Camp 2012

Great, look's like we have no secondary again this year. Have to have great offensive output to win games, as we can't rely on the D to stop anyone.

August 9th, 2012, 8:03 am

Shotty

Millen Draft Pick - Epic Bust

Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:06 amPosts: 714

Re: Training Camp 2012

liontrax wrote:

Great, look's like we have no secondary again this year. Have to have great offensive output to win games, as we can't rely on the D to stop anyone.

Why is everyone saying this? Sure, losing Delmas for the first 1-4 games will hurt, but Coleman lost 7-8lbs this offseason to improve his speed and I'm sure he'll be decent. Our pass YPG given up ranked 9th in the NFL last year before we lost Houston, Delmas, and Berry for the rest of the season in the Green Bay, and just a side-note we didn't allow any points until they were all out of the game. We can still make a move after roster cuts coming up for a #2 cornerback since teams like the Falcons, Texans, Ravens and Giants have lots of cornerbacks and I'm sure at least 1 will be cut. We have $3 million in cap space, so we might even go for Cedric Benson, too. Either way, our defensive line will be even better next year and take lots of pressure off of the back 4 all season.

If everyone says our pass defense is so bad, can someone explain how it ranked 9th in the league mid-way through the season before losing 3 key players on it?

_________________

August 9th, 2012, 1:58 pm

m2karateman

RIP Killer

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10019Location: Where ever I'm at now

Re: Training Camp 2012

Shotty wrote:

liontrax wrote:

Great, look's like we have no secondary again this year. Have to have great offensive output to win games, as we can't rely on the D to stop anyone.

Why is everyone saying this? Sure, losing Delmas for the first 1-4 games will hurt, but Coleman lost 7-8lbs this offseason to improve his speed and I'm sure he'll be decent. Our pass YPG given up ranked 9th in the NFL last year before we lost Houston, Delmas, and Berry for the rest of the season in the Green Bay, and just a side-note we didn't allow any points until they were all out of the game. We can still make a move after roster cuts coming up for a #2 cornerback since teams like the Falcons, Texans, Ravens and Giants have lots of cornerbacks and I'm sure at least 1 will be cut. We have $3 million in cap space, so we might even go for Cedric Benson, too. Either way, our defensive line will be even better next year and take lots of pressure off of the back 4 all season.

If everyone says our pass defense is so bad, can someone explain how it ranked 9th in the league mid-way through the season before losing 3 key players on it?

OK...that defense had all of its starters healthy through those games. What if Delmas' knee issue lingers? Should that happen, it could effectively screw up both safety spots, since once Delmas was out, Spievey became completely lost and went downhill fast. Unless Spievey gets a grip on playing his position without relying on Delmas to cover up for his mistakes, it's a huge loss to start the season with. And despite all the knocks against him, Eric Wright was our best and most consistent tackler in the secondary last year. His pass coverage was spotty, but can we honestly expect anything better out of either Alfonso Smith or a rookie?

We don't know just how good Erik Coleman will be in this defense, since last year he got injured early and we never saw him. Based on that, not knowing if Spievey has got his act together, and a big question mark opposite Houston, I'd say it's worth being worried about.

_________________I will not put on blinders when it comes to our QBs performances.

August 9th, 2012, 2:06 pm

Shotty

Millen Draft Pick - Epic Bust

Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:06 amPosts: 714

Re: Training Camp 2012

m2karateman wrote:

Shotty wrote:

liontrax wrote:

Great, look's like we have no secondary again this year. Have to have great offensive output to win games, as we can't rely on the D to stop anyone.

Why is everyone saying this? Sure, losing Delmas for the first 1-4 games will hurt, but Coleman lost 7-8lbs this offseason to improve his speed and I'm sure he'll be decent. Our pass YPG given up ranked 9th in the NFL last year before we lost Houston, Delmas, and Berry for the rest of the season in the Green Bay, and just a side-note we didn't allow any points until they were all out of the game. We can still make a move after roster cuts coming up for a #2 cornerback since teams like the Falcons, Texans, Ravens and Giants have lots of cornerbacks and I'm sure at least 1 will be cut. We have $3 million in cap space, so we might even go for Cedric Benson, too. Either way, our defensive line will be even better next year and take lots of pressure off of the back 4 all season.

If everyone says our pass defense is so bad, can someone explain how it ranked 9th in the league mid-way through the season before losing 3 key players on it?

OK...that defense had all of its starters healthy through those games. What if Delmas' knee issue lingers? Should that happen, it could effectively screw up both safety spots, since once Delmas was out, Spievey became completely lost and went downhill fast. Unless Spievey gets a grip on playing his position without relying on Delmas to cover up for his mistakes, it's a huge loss to start the season with. And despite all the knocks against him, Eric Wright was our best and most consistent tackler in the secondary last year. His pass coverage was spotty, but can we honestly expect anything better out of either Alfonso Smith or a rookie?

We don't know just how good Erik Coleman will be in this defense, since last year he got injured early and we never saw him. Based on that, not knowing if Spievey has got his act together, and a big question mark opposite Houston, I'd say it's worth being worried about.

There's no argument about it, I'm worried about the secondary too, but it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Delmas has 4-10 weeks to be ready to play, compared to the 6 weeks he had after the GB game when he came back in the playoffs. In those first 4 games we play the Rams, 49ers, Titans, Bears, Eagles and Vikings. All teams with top runningbacks and all of them except for Philly have offenses based around the RBs. If we did any worse than 4-2 in these games I'd be surprised, of course losing to San Francisco is the most likely since Jahvid Best might not play and Leshoure won't, but at the same time the 49ers are a run-first team so that game will be a toss-up. If he's on PUP to start the season, though, the Chicago and Philly games will be much harder to win without him. Who knows, though? Speivey could've gotten a bit better, Coleman might be just as good as Delmas, and Dwight Bentley might be better than any other 2nd CB options on the roster. We'll get answers to all these questions in pre-season.

_________________

August 9th, 2012, 2:41 pm

TheRealWags

Modmin Dude

Joined: December 31st, 2004, 9:55 amPosts: 12278

Re: Training Camp 2012

PFT wrote:

Mikel LeShoure expected back to practice next weekPosted by Darin Gantt on August 9, 2012, 3:02 PM EDT

The Lions have been thin at running back all training camp, but they’re about to get at least one of them back.

Mikel LeShoure is expected to return to practice next week, according to Anwar Richardson of MLive.com.

LeShoure, coming off last year’s Achilles tear, has been sidelined most of camp with a hamstring problem.

“Hopefully,” Leshoure said. “I’m starting to run now. You never know how these days go, but I hope to get back on the field next week. . . .

“I’m definitely ready to get out there, but I know injuries are part of the game. It’s all about taking your time and healing right. It’s a long season. I’ll be out there when I get out there.”

With LeShoure sidelined, and Jahvid Best yet to be cleared because of concussions, Kevin Smith has been working with the starters.

Of course, LeShoure won’t play the first two games because of a suspension, so getting used to life without him isn’t the worst idea anyway.